Scenes from Lawrence Russell Brewer's execution

Guiseppe Barranc, Beaumont Enterprise

By Guiseppe Barranco, GBarranco@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Published 9:45 pm, Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Clara Taylor, sister of the late James Byrd Jr., said she promised her mother, Stella, who passed away last year, that she would attend the execution of the men who Byrd. Louvon Harris, left, and Tiffany Taylor, Byrd's sister and niece, stood with her for support.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Clara Taylor, sister of the late James Byrd Jr., said she promised...

Lawrence Brewer Sr., father of Lawrence Russell Brewer,. walks into the Huntsville prison's Walls Unit Wednesday before his son's execution for the 1998 dragging death of James Byrd Jr.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Clara Taylor shows her identification to enter the Hunstville prison Wednesday. Taylor, James Byrd Jr.'s sister, came to the prison to witness the execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer. Brewer was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m. Wednesday.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Clara Taylor shows her identification to enter the Hunstville...

Lawrence Brewer Sr., father of Lawrence Russell Brewer,walks out of the Huntsville prison Wednesday after his son was executed for the 1998 dragging death of James Byrd Jr. John Brewer, Lawrence Russell Brewer's brother, and mother, Helen Brewer, are pictured.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Lawrence Brewer Sr., father of Lawrence Russell Brewer,walks out of...

Guards stand post on a tower at the Huntsville prison Wednesday, watching for any sign of unrest among protesters and supporters of Lawrence Russell Brewer's execution.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Guards stand post on a tower at the Huntsville prison Wednesday,...

Josh Ruschenberg, a Sam Houston State University student, stood outside the Huntsville prison Wednesday with a sign of support for the death penalty.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Josh Ruschenberg, a Sam Houston State University student, stood...

From left, Shirley Farrell of Tomball, Kelly Epstein of Spring, and David Atwood of Houston, sit in protest of the death penalty outside of the Hunstville prison on Wednesday. The three said they want the death penalty to not be an option in capital crimes.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Dick Gregory, comedian and civil rights activist ,expressed his distaste for the death penalty outside of the Hunstville prison shortly before Lawrence Rusell Brewer was executed Wednesday.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Dick Gregory, comedian and civil rights activist ,expressed his...

Ricky Jason, a documentary film maker who covered the death of James Byrd Jr., said he opposes the death penalty. He protested Lawrence Rusell Brewer's execution outside the Huntsville prison Wednesday.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Betty Boatner, sister of the late James Byrd Jr., asks a crowd Wednesday night in Jasper to 'seek peace and love' during a remembrance gathering for her brother. The group met in the same hour that one of Byrd's killers, Lawrence Russell Brewer, was put to death.
Jimmy Galvan/Jasper Newsboy
Photo: Jimmy Galvan

Betty Boatner, sister of the late James Byrd Jr., asks a crowd...

Jasper residents attend a remembrance gathering for James Byrd Jr. Wednesday. The group met at the same hour that one of three men convicted in the 1998 dragging death of Byrd was put to death. Lawrence Russell Brewer, 44, was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m. at the Huntsville prison.
Jimmy Galvan/Jasper Newsboy
Photo: Jasper Newsboy

Jasper residents attend a remembrance gathering for James Byrd Jr....

Dick Gregory address a small gathering at James Byrd's grave during a memorial in Jasper Tuesday night.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise
Photo: Guiseppe Barranco

Dick Gregory address a small gathering at James Byrd's grave during...

Former pastor of James Byrd Jr., Kenneth Lyons says he opposed the execution of Lawrence Rusell Brewer.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Former pastor of James Byrd Jr., Kenneth Lyons says he opposed the...

Kenneth Lyons leads a service with his Jasper congregation in September. Lyons gave the eulogy at James Byrd Jr.'s funeral.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Kenneth Lyons leads a service with his Jasper congregation in...

Retired Jasper County Sheriff Billy Rowles investigated the murder of James Byrd Jr. in 1998. Rowles visted Lawrence Russell Brewer in prison last month and said he did not feel like Brewer had any remorse for his crime. In fact, the former sheriff said all Brewer really wanted to talk about was Blue Bell ice cream.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Retired Jasper County Sheriff Billy Rowles investigated the murder...

A shot of Huff Creek Road in Japser earlier this month. On June 7, 1998, Lawrence Russell Brewer and two other men draged James Byrd Jr two miles down Huff Creak Road. Brewer was executed Wednesday for his role in the crime.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

A shot of Huff Creek Road in Japser earlier this month. On June 7,...

A Jasper park was named after James Byrd Jr. following his 1998 murder.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

A Jasper park was named after James Byrd Jr. following his 1998...

FILE - In a Thursday, June 11, 1998 file photo, the rear of the 1982 pickup truck owned by Shawn Allen Berry, 23, of Jasper, Texas, is shown. The ball of the hitch has been removed by the FBI in their investigation into the death of James Byrd Jr. Lawrence Russell Brewer, 44, one of two purported white supremacists condemned for Byrd?s death, is set for execution Wednesday for participating in chaining Byrd to the back of a pickup truck, dragging the black man along the road and dumping what was left of his shredded body outside a black church and cemetery. Lawrence Russell Brewer, 44, one of two purported white supremacists condemned for Byrd?s death, is set for execution Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011 for participating in chaining Byrd to the back of a pickup truck, dragging the black man along the road and dumping what was left of his shredded body outside a black church and cemetery. John William King, 36, also was convicted of capital murder and sent to death row. His case remains under appeal. Berry, 36, received a life prison term. (AP Photo/The Beaumont Enterprise, Ron Jaap, File)
Photo: RON JAAP, MBO

FILE - In a Thursday, June 11, 1998 file photo, the rear of the...

Lawrence Russell Brewer, back left, and John William King, right, are taken from the Aubrey Cole Law Enforcement Center in Jasper to appear before the district attorney at the Jasper County Courthouse on June 9, 1998. Brewer and King are on death row at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston for the killing of James Byrd Jr A third defendant, Shawn Berry, is serving a life sentence at the Ramsey Unit in Rosharon. Enterprise file photo
Photo: File

Lawrence Russell Brewer, back left, and John William King, right,...

Jasper County Sheriff Billy Rowles, left, escorts capital murder defendant Shawn Allen Berry from the Jasper County Courthouse after the first day of jury selection in November, 1999. Berry is currently serving a life sentence at the Ramsey Unit in Rosharon for the June, 1998 dragging death of Jasper resident James Byrd Jr. Enterprise file photo
Photo: File

Jasper County Sheriff Billy Rowles, left, escorts capital murder...

Lawrence Russell Brewer
PHOTO BY RON JAAP
Photo: Beaumont

Lawrence Russell Brewer
PHOTO BY RON JAAP

Jasper County Assistant District Attorney Pat Hardy displays the chain allegedly used to drag James Byrd Jr. to his death during a break in the trial of Lawrence Russell Brewer Thursday, Sept. 16, 1999, at the Brazos County Courthouse in Bryan, Texas. The chain was introduced into evidence Thursday. Brewer is the second of three white men charged with capital murder in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. near Jasper, Texas. (AP Photo/Pool, Butch Ireland)
Photo: BUTCH IRELAND, POOL

Jasper County Assistant District Attorney Pat Hardy displays the...

Jasper County Sheriff Billy Rowles, left, congratulates Jasper County District Attorney Guy James Gray after a jury found Lawrence Russell Brewer guilty of capital murder Monday, Sept. 20, 1999 in Bryan, Texas. Brewer is the second of three white men convicted of capital murder for the dragging death of James Byrd Jr., a black man. He could get the death penalty for his crime. The punishment phase of trial will continue Tuesday. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Photo: DAVID J. PHILLIP, STF

Jasper County Sheriff Billy Rowles, left, congratulates Jasper...

Doug Barlow, defense attorney for Lawrence Russell Brewer, leaves the Brazos County Courthouse after talking with the media Tuesday, Aug. 31, 1999 in Bryan, Texas. Jury selection began Tuesday in Brewer's capital murder trial. Brewer is the second of three men charged in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Photo: DAVID J. PHILLIP, STF

Doug Barlow, defense attorney for Lawrence Russell Brewer, leaves...

John Stevens, who was a prosecuting attorney in the Lawrence Russell Brewer trial in 1999, said that people who can kill with no remorse - like Brewer - are the reason for the death penalty.
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

John Stevens, who was a prosecuting attorney in the Lawrence...

Jasper County District Attorney Guy James Gray, center, arrives at the Brazos County Courthouse for the first day of jury selection in the capital murder trial of Lawrence Russell Brewer Tuesday, Aug. 31, 1999 in Bryan, Texas. Brewer, 32, is the second of three men accused of beating James Byrd Jr. , chaining him to a pickup truck and dragging him for nearly three miles outside Jasper last year. His trial was moved to Bryan, 150 miles to the west. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Photo: DAVID J. PHILLIP, STF

Jasper County District Attorney Guy James Gray, center, arrives at...

FILE - James Byrd Jr., shown in this 1997 family photo, was tied to a truck and dragged to his death along a rural East Texas road early Sunday, June 7, 1998, near Jasper, Texas. Lawrence Russell Brewer, 44, one of two purported white supremacists condemned for Byrd?s death, is set for execution Wednesday for participating in chaining Byrd to the back of a pickup truck, dragging the black man along the road and dumping what was left of his shredded body outside a black church and cemetery. (AP Photo/Byrd Family Photo, File)
Photo: HONS

FILE - James Byrd Jr., shown in this 1997 family photo, was tied to...

Besides Brewer, John William King, now 36, also was convicted of capital murder and sent to death row for Byrd's death. No execution date has been set. A third man, Shawn Berry, 36, received a life sentence and is eligible for parole in 2038.